


When the World Comes Crashing Down

by dragonflysobright_seethemfly



Series: Whumptober 2020 [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Number Five | The Boy Whump, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sibling Rivalry, young hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 08:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26968801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonflysobright_seethemfly/pseuds/dragonflysobright_seethemfly
Summary: Whumptober prompt 4: collapsed building (EDIT: also prompt 27 natural disaster, apparently.)Dealing with something unexpected on a mission
Series: Whumptober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968016
Comments: 2
Kudos: 64





	When the World Comes Crashing Down

**Author's Note:**

> I've been doing the whumptober prompts hoping to get my writing motivation back. 
> 
> I realized if I kept going with this that it would become more hurt/comfort than angst so that's why it ends where it does. I will probably continue it after whumptober is over.

It certainly wasn’t the first time the siblings had been pitted against each other but it was the first time during a mission. They had all been gathered outside for the daily training sessions, except Vanya who was inside with mom. Dad had them practicing their combat skills in groups of three. The kids didn’t know if he was unaware of the current tensions between them or if he just didn’t care but he’d put Five with One and Three and they were quickly gaining the upper hand. If it had been anyone else, it would have been fine because One and Two had a fierce rivalry between them and Four and Six usually got along great with Five but Five had pissed off Three yesterday and apparently she was still holding a grudge. And of course One would always take Three’s side. Five had survived so far but sticking his fingers in his ears whenever Three opened her mouth and blinking to avoid One’s strong limbs but the two of them were just waiting him out, knowing that he would soon lose the energy to jump and couldn’t leave to get food until dad gave permission. 

It was then that the mission alarm blared. All six kids turned immediately to look at their father who nodded and yelled “Go!”. They changed into their mission suits and were out the door in under three minutes, all the times their father made them practice finally paying off. Mom had shoved a sandwich in Five’s hand as he ran out the door. The mission itself didn’t seem too difficult. But it was the earthquake that rocked the city while the siblings were wrapping things up that proved to be dangerous. The ground underneath their feet began to shake unexpectedly. One, Three, and Four were outside the building and Two and Six were just inside the entrance so they were able to dart out quickly before the rubble started falling. Five wasn’t so lucky. He had only taken a couple steps towards the exit before the ground cracked underneath him and he fell. Five had used up the energy that the sandwich had given him, stopping the robbers and was now more tired than he’d been before. So when he weakly got to his feet he didn’t get far before the ceiling came crumbling down. 

“Five!” shouted Six “Five!” he moved towards the ruins of the building but One put his arm out to stop him. Six glared at One who just put a finger to his ear. That's when Six realized that their father’s voice was coming through the coms. 

“..get people out. Go grid by grid to see where help is needed. Quickly, before there are any aftershocks.”

“What about Five?” Four protested. 

“He can get himself out. That’s not your concern. You must learn to improvise when something goes wrong. Now go.” Reginald replied harshly. Four and Six exchanged concerned looks but neither was as good at standing up to their father as Five was. One shot them a glare and they knew if they didn’t follow orders that One would be only too happy to rat them out. And they shared a similar thought as they headed out in different directions. Five can use his power to get out. He’s probably already free. 

Five let out a sharp cough. One of his arms was pinned under a large slab of concrete which made it impossible to use his power. He could feel the bruises from where debris had fallen on him. But it was hard to determine how badly he was injured. There was a very faint light coming from above him. Five tried to move but stopped when it only brought on more pain. Five rested for a moment then took a deep breath and started wiggling his whole body, trying to find any way out from under this concrete prison. He ignored the pain that flared for as long as he could but eventually realized that he wasn’t getting out of this by himself. He lay back and closed his eyes, trying to get his breathing back to normal get the pain back down to manageable levels. Five was sure that his siblings would find him soon, they knew exactly where he’d been after all. But could he withstand the humiliation of having to be rescued? As the earth began to tremble again and the cement shifted causing Five to cry out in pain he realized he would definitely take his siblings teasing over dying here. As he teetered on the edge of consciousness, his strong willed mind refusing to shut down until it had too, Five’s last thought was that although he didn’t know how much time had passed, he’d have thought that his siblings would have reached him by now. Unless they were still holding a grievance against him. 

Working quickly, Numbers 1-4 & 6 were able to help local emergency teams free the people who had been trapped before the aftershocks hit. When they regrouped they learned no one had seen Five anywhere. Six tried to insist that they start digging in the rubble but One brushed off his concerns. 

“He’ll be at home, ready to be all smug about how he got out of doing the hard labor. Come on.” and with that, One turned and started walking home. Three of course followed him and Two hastened after them, obviously trying to make it seem like it was his plan as he tried and failed to keep pace with Number One. Six was still staring at the ruins of the building so Four grabbed his arm and dragged his brother along behind their siblings. Six only let himself be dragged a few feet before he shook off Four’s arm and dutifully trudged along, last in line. By the time they reached the Academy, they were all glistening with sweat and craving a cold glass of water to clear the dust from their throats. As they filed into the building Mom and Pogo were at the door to greet them as usual. The routine was that the children would get any injuries seen too, change clothes (they usually tried to sneak food or drink in as well if they were fast enough) and then they met with father to discuss how the mission went. Six was last through the door so his siblings were almost out of the room but froze when they heard him ask quietly, 

“Is Five here?” Mom and Pogo looked startled like they hadn’t realized that Five wasn’t with his siblings. 

“No he hasn’t returned.” Pogo responded anxiously as he turned to make sure Five wasn’t standing with the other four. “I’ll alert Reginald.” he stated as he quickly left the room. 

“I knew it!” Six exclaimed, “We have to go back for him.” Reginald didn’t look concerned but agreed.


End file.
